Last week, I returned to Loudon Park at Long Lake near Country Club mall for an announcement by the city about a purchase of two properties with single family homes adjacent to the park for a cool $2.2 million. 

This purchase stems from a long-standing but controversial plan to build a new boathouse and activity centre for youth in the Nanaimo Rowing and Kayak Clubs who, as I reported on earlier this summer, currently operate out of an unheated converted picnic shelter and aging portable trailer. 

You can find more information about that purchase in my story below. 

This week also saw a city council meeting with a jam-packed agenda, which you can read all about in our council corner section. 

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

Loudon Park to expand with purchase of new properties 

City of Nanaimo spends $2.2 million to provide more options for future boathouse and activity centre, as well as increase park space.

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"Really like that you bring information on Nanaimo city council meetings which I do not have the time to watch.”

— Mayta R., from our newsletter survey.

Council corner

The Nanaimo city council meeting on Monday, Oct. 6 was a busy one with a few contentious items.

Mayor Leonard Krog gave a recap of who he and councillors met with at the Union of BC Municipalities conference in Victoria. 

Coun. Erin Hemmens gave an update on the Vancouver Island Regional Library’s board of trustees, of which she is the chair. She highlighted that provincial funding for the library has fallen from 21 per cent to just five per cent “over the last several decades.” 

She also gave some stats for library use in Nanaimo, including that one-third of residents have an active library card and borrowed 600,000 items — or about $10 million worth of material — in 2024. 

Council passed recommendations to add Maffeo Sutton Park to the list of parks being audited for accessibility by the Rick Hansen Foundation next year. 

It passed recommendations by the city’s finance and audit committee that will change city policy, allowing it to apply for long-term borrowing without electoral approval following changes to the Local Government Act by the province. 

Council also passed a motion to direct staff to allocate $2 million for the South End Community Centre.

Council voted to establish a friendship city policy that will govern how the city signs Memorandums of Understanding with other cities around the world. Currently, Nanaimo has friendship city agreements with Iwatsuki City in Japan; Sunyani, Ghana and Guilin, China. A recent request by the Chinese Freemasons Society to form a friendship city relationship with Yangzhou, China has reinforced the need for the city to create a formal policy. The motion passed 8-1 with Coun. Tyler Brown opposed. 

Council also amended the bylaw that assigns fines for violating the Waterworks Rate and Regulation bylaw. The changes stem from an increase in vandalism of city fire hydrants. The penalty for unauthorized use of a fire hydrant will rise from $200 to $500.

A request from the Regional District of Nanaimo to borrow $21.2 million over 20 years for purchasing land for regional parks passed, putting city taxpayers on the hook for $2.50 per $100,000 of assessed value for their properties.

Council voted to renew the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement Area (BIA) for the next five years. The BIA will be funded through a 1.01 per cent property tax increase for downtown properties, unless 50 per cent of affected property owners petition against it. A BIA has existed in downtown Nanaimo since 2020. The money will be used to fund Downtown Nanaimo Business Association (DNBA) events and marketing to make downtown a “go-to spot for shopping, dining and community experiences,” according to DNBA executive director Roberta Bowman. Downtown property owners have from Nov. 3 to Dec. 5 to petition against it. 

Council also voted to approve the Active School Travel Initiative and fund it with $245,000 from the pedestrian budget and $125,00 from the Active School Travel grant. The money will pay for a raised crosswalk in front of Chase River Elementary and intersection improvements near Cinnabar Valley Elementary. The motion passed 8-1 with Coun. Ben Geslebracht opposed as he did not want to dip into the pedestrian budget for these projects. 

Two housing agreements for residential shelters at 224 White Court Way and 95 Kennedy St. were approved. Currently, 220 White Court Way is used as an abstinence-based recovery house according to owner Graham Meneilly who sought to increase the maximum capacity from five to ten people in each location. Coun. Perrino was the sole vote against both locations. 

AVI Health and Community Services also requested a letter of support for additional provincial funding for primary care services in a publicly-funded Community Health Centre that would add two full-time family doctors, one nurse practitioner and three registered nurses. Council was split with Councillors Eastmure, Manly, Brown and Geselbracht in favour and Mayor Krog and Councillors Thorpe, Perrino and Hemmens opposed so the motion to provide a letter of support failed.

Council voted to name the park at 933 Park Ave. “Five Acres Farm Community Park” 7-1 with Thorpe opposed citing a lack of input from the community.

In other news

👉 Nanaimo’s only professional theatre company, Theatre One, is in danger of shutting down after being rejected for grants totaling $20,000. The company needs to make up that money or it will be forced to ask members to dissolve the non-profit society at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

 👉 An arrest has been made related to a viral dash-cam video that captured a motorcyclist pushing an elderly cyclist from behind this summer sending him careening into a curb on the opposite side of the street. Marcel Trudeau, 48, is charged with assault causing bodily harm and dangerous operation of a conveyance. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

👉 The Nanaimo Ladysmith School District will spend $1.75 million from a $4 million surplus on the district’s strategic plan, including $670,000 on inclusive education for students with disabilities. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has the story. 

👉 One of Nanaimo’s Zamboni’s has a new look featuring artwork from Snuneymuxw master carver Noel Brown. My Coast Now has the story. 

In your words

Re: How much are Nanaimo councillors spending?

In some ways, mayors and council members deserve every penny they receive in compensation when you consider the time they put in. The B.C. municipal political structure is demanding as many council members represent their community in both the city and regional district meetings. The agenda for the RDN, even 10 years ago when I was Lantzville’s representative, was regularly well over 200 pages. 

Every now and then someone steps outside the norms for personal expenses and only the mayor, who normally signs off, can control this.  A classic case for Nanaimo was when Bill McKay went to China to sell whatever.

Perhaps you could tackle it with a sense of humour as $6,000 would qualify for a two to three week vacation in Italy with all its cultural benefits.

Jack de Jong

Lantzville B.C.

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